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SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN 2 SI 580 Understanding Records and Archives: Principles and Practices Week 8 - Core Archival and Records Management Functions: Part Two

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Key Concepts n Physical control n Intellectual control n Administrative control

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Accessioning n Accessioning -- the process of gaining physical, administrative, and minimal intellectual control over records n Involves physical and legal transfer of custody of records

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Physical transfer n usually based on an initial inventory of records; prepared as a records management activity or for appraisal n requires careful supervision to retain the original order and as check for completeness of records transferred n initial descriptive information establishes basic administrative control and rudimentary access

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Legal transfer n Transfer of ownership n Transfer of authority and responsibility –access –privacy & confidentiality –security

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Transfer instruments n Institutional / Government archives –disposition schedules –transfer agreement n Collecting archives –donor agreements –deeds of gift

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Transfer of legal and physical custody are often synonymous… …but there are exceptions: records placed on deposit non-custodial arrangements

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Administrative issues n authority to process (weed, reorganize, reformat) n preservation needs v. capabilities n access restrictions n reproduction rights n access to unprocessed materials

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Physical control n managing the physical integrity of records n maintaining the original order of records n identifying materials needing immediate treatment

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Intellectual control n compiling information about the materials from donors or creating agency n compiling an initial inventory of the materials

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Arrangement n intellectual and physical process of putting archives & records into order in accordance with accepted archival principles, particularly...provenance and original order. (Ellis) n work from general to specific n distinguish between physical arrangement and intellectual arrangement (arranging boxes v. manipulating information about records)

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Physical control n organization of fonds, collections, record groups into series n establishing order (arrangement) within series n re-housing material n weeding, elimination, separation of duplicates & non-archival material n separation of special formats

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Intellectual control n Physical inventory of collections –series level –box and folder level –item level (uncommon)

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Levels of Arrangement n Holmes (1964) 1. Repository 2. Record Group/Manuscript Collection (& Sub-Groups, etc.) 3. Series (& Sub-Series, etc.) 4. File Unit 5. Item n Miller (1990) 1. Repository 2. Provenance 3. Filing Structure 4. Filing Unit

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Arrangement and archival administration n why is arrangement necessary? –establish original order –establish coherent order when original order has been lost –improve access –identify and deal with preservation problems

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Description - definition n Process of capturing, collating, analyzing, controlling, exchanging, and providing access to information about: –origin, context, and provenance of different sets of records –filing structure –form and content –relationships with other records –ways in which they can be found and used (Miller 1990)

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Description - overview n Process : –analysis, identification, organization n Purpose : –control, access, retrieval n Products : –finding aids

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Levels of description n Repository n Fonds / Records Group / Collection n Series n Filing Unit n Item

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Descriptive Tools (aka finding aids) n Internal Tools n Accessioning Documentation n Creator-Supplied Finding Aids n Inventories n Series-Record Creator Linking Systems n Indexes and Catalogs n External Tools n Guides n Summary Collective Descriptions n Specialized Descriptions n Websites

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Descriptive elements n title n administrative / personal / family history n scope and content note n series descriptions n administrative information

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Series descriptions n title n inclusive dates n quantity n scope and content note n physical characteristics n arrangement n inventory at box or folder level for each series n related series

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Administrative information n name and location of repository n control number n access conditions n processing notes n other administrative notes

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Descriptive standards n Machine Readable Cataloging - MARC format for catalog records n Encoded Archival Description - EAD for finding aids n Describing Archives: A Content Standard - DACS n Various data value standards

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Standards for catalog records n MARC:AMC - standard for structuring descriptive elements for archival materials and providing additional access points n APPM (archives, personal papers, and manuscripts) - rules governing the content of fields in MARC format. –Superceded by --> n DACS (Describing Archives: A Content Standard) DACS: Workshop:

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS) n “Used to create any type and/or level of description of archival and manuscript material, including catalog records and full finding aids.” n “These systems can be of any type, ranging from simple paper- based files to complex digital information management systems. The output products of these systems—archival descriptions of all kinds and formats, printed on paper or encoded in EAD or MARC…” n Three parts: 1.Describing archival materials 2.Describing Creators 3.Forms of Names n Defines 25 elements for creating descriptive systems: both single and multilevel.

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Encoded Archival Description (EAD) n convention for structuring archival finding aids and using SGML/XML to distinguish different structural parts of the finding aids to enhance search and retrieval n purpose: –online delivery of finding aids –cross-collection searching of finding aids –cross-repository searching See EAD Sources on CTools

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Thank you! Paul Conway Associate Professor School of Information University of Michigan